Bouncy Puzzle iPad App – A Jigsaw Puzzler’s Delight

Bouncy Puzzle (by Pixoid Studios) isn’t your ordinary jigsaw puzzle game, it’s a fabulous (patent pending) iPad puzzle game with nice fluid graphics and realistic gravity physics. Pixoid Studios has created a very well made puzzle game with 40 HD graphic puzzle boards to select from, 5 different shaped puzzle pieces to work with, and 3 difficulty settings to play in. In addition to the 40 puzzle boards provided, you have the option to use your own photos or transform web images into puzzles (which are copied to your camera roll) making your puzzle board options endless.

Bouncy Puzzle has a nice variety of images available, ranging from animals to places, some are photographs and others are artistic drawings. But before you make that choice, you’ll want to stop by the Options settings to select either a black and white background or a colored background to work on. Obviously the colored background makes it easier to find the right home for pieces based on matching colors. You may want to turn the sounds off if you prefer to work silently. The music and sound effects add another enjoyable layer to the playing experience, however, the whimsical music can get a tad annoying being played before every puzzle board. It would be nice to have the option to turn the music off, but still hear all the other sounds. Once you select your puzzle board of choice, it’s time to select from 1 of the 5 different puzzle shapes to work with. There’s the traditional puzzle piece shape, circle, and square (along with 2 other less conventional shapes), but this shape element really does add another fun twist to the puzzle solving. Bouncy Puzzle gives you a choice of 3 different difficulty settings, with varying amount of puzzle pieces for each (Easy: 48 pieces with 3 pieces to start on the game board, Medium: 108 pieces with 4, and Hard: 192 pieces with 5 pieces to start).

After your difficulty level selection, your original puzzle picture will appear on your iPad screen and then magically segment into a puzzle grid before bursting apart to reappear again as a transparent-looking background (B&W or Colored) to start working on. At anytime while putting your current puzzle together, you can pause the game and make adjustments to the sound, degree of Precision (from Easy to Expert), turn the Gravity effect on or off, choose another picture to work on, and then resume your current puzzle again. The only unfortunate part of the Pause menu that I didn’t care for was the option to choose a new puzzle picture (icon), which for some reason, I kept accidentally tapping on and it took me to the 40 images to choose from again, which was a bummer since I hadn’t finished the puzzle I was working on and could not get back. A “double opt out” button would be a good option here or an undo button to prevent this.

There are so many great aspects of this iPad puzzle game, but one of the coolest features to this app is the Gravity component. When it’s “off” the puzzle pieces float and bob around like objects in a snow globe, and when the Gravity is on, pieces will sink to the bottom and fluidly sway whichever direction you tilt or turn your iPad. I think kids will love this for sure (I did) — it’s like a simple game in itself. In either mode (on/off), the pieces bump and move intuitively and smoothly with your finger movement. Although, depending our your degree of Precision setting, the finger manipulation may require more effort.

I tried out a variety of Bouncy Puzzle’s puzzle boards, difficulty settings, as well as having the Gravity effect on and off — either way all the puzzle pieces nicely float, flow and flip into place (you’ll know because you’ll hear a snapping sound and they can’t be moved once in place) as you work you way to completion. True to the overall casual and light-hearted feel of this iPad game, once you have completed your puzzle, you’ll get a little musical strumming sound, a dash of magical twinkling dust across your iPad, and then the original completed picture appears again (minus the puzzle grid-look). Also, the amount of time it took you to complete will be shown. I really enjoyed this puzzle application (I’ve always loved traditional jigsaw puzzles) and think it offers a unique playing experience that should appeal to a wide range of people (men, women, kids), as well as ages. The ability to use your own photos and web images in addition to the ones provided makes this the puzzle app that keeps on giving.

Lisa Vallez - (Mrs. CrazyMike) is the Co-Founder of CrazyMikesapps.com, as well as the Editor and an Author, among other things. She is also a wife and mother of three teens. Lisa likes to write reviews for apps that appeal to the average everyday family, especially Education, Kids, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Productivity and many other app categories.